Work and Family
by CloakPotion255
Summary: Carlisle hasn't hunted for 3 weeks, he has worked solidly for 3 days. Even a vampire must have a limit. (Carlisle whump)
1. Chapter 1

**Work and Family**

This is just some random story that I quickly put together today, I went to see Breaking Dawn yesterday and it gave me a good idea for this story. I'm still not sure where I got this idea for the story for, but I still got it! I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own Twilight, but if I did, you would have seen a lot more of Carlisle. But I don't, so I own none of it!

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CPOV

I dragged myself out of my chair, and walked around my desk to the nurse that stood by my door. "Dr. Cullen, you look terrible. You've been working for 3 days solid now, please go home" I watched the nurses face for a minute, it was lined with concern. Did I really look that bad? Anyway, I had to finish off this paperwork. "Of course nurse, but I must finish this paperwork first" I replied. She nodded and finally left me alone.

I stumbled back behind my desk; I had never felt so drained in my entire life. I couldn't think what has made me so drained, I didn't actually need sleep as a vampire but I do need some rest. Maybe that's what it is, but then I realized that I hadn't actually hunted for at least 3 weeks, and the dull pain in my throat had turned into a constant stab. But I didn't have time to hunt; I have 2 dying patients in the room next to me. I decide to call Esme and tell her I'm not going to be home again.

But as I pick up the phone to call her, I hear a beep coming from the other room. I jump up at vampire speed to run into the other room, but my foot gets caught on the side of the desk and I come crashing to the floor. What? I have never tripped up before, what is wrong with me? But my thoughts are cut short when the nurse bangs open the door and rushes inside. "Doctor!" She runs to my side and grabs my arm to help me up. I use her help and get up, explaining that I got my foot caught in my haste to get to the patient. She doesn't smile and I know she worried.

EPOV

I'm worried. Carlisle hasn't been back for 3 days now, I want to see him, and I miss him. Just as I'm about to call him again to get him to come home, my phone rings. It's the hospital. I press the button and say hello. I hear Carlisle's nurse on the other end. "What's wrong, nurse?" She pauses, as if debating what to tell me. "I'm worried about Dr. Cullen, he's been working for 3 days solid, he refuses to rest, and he looks awful"

I stand there in shock, Carlisle looks awful? This must be bad; it takes a lot for a vampire to look bad enough for a human to notice it. "I-I was just wondering if you could talk to him and try and get him to go home?" "Yes, of course" I mumble back. I shut the phone off and go downstairs to get Carlisle from work. Jumping down the stairs in one leap and bounding out the front door before I even pressed the red button on my mobile.

I drive, disregarding all the speed limits to get to my husband. I pull up in the car and I'm out and at the front doors of the hospital in a blink of a human eye. I slowly walk into the hospital and ask for Carlisle at the front desk.

The nurse gives me a weary smile and tells me to wait in his office because he's in the middle of surgery. I nod and walk into his office and sit at his chair. His office is spotless, the curtains pulled closed, hiding the many plants that Carlisle houses in his office.

CPOV

I'm in the middle of surgery, trying to get this bullet out of my patient. I hand the nurse the knife to gently cut open the bullet hole so we can see what we are dealing with. As the knife goes in a cuts a small line in the man's skin, blood starts to leak out. I was not ready for what was about to happen. As I watched the nurse wipe away some blood to finish the incision, I felt it in my throat first.

A white hot agonizing pain flared up, but it didn't stay in my throat. I grabbed my chest as the pain forced me to my knees; I had never felt anything like it. It was like 5 Jane's were using their powers on me at the same time. I wrapped my arm harder around my chest, and pushed myself up. The nurse had dropped the bloody knife and was now reaching out with a blood stained hand, the pain increased and my knees buckled again.

I wanted to bite her, to drink her blood. Instead a groan of pain slipped past my lips, as my other arm joined the first to try and ease the pain in my chest. It was like it had just suddenly broken all my ribs, every time I panted for breath I didn't need, the pain intensified.

EPOV

I was still worried, so much so that I was tempted to barge into his surgery and carry him home. But I resisted the temptation, besides Carlisle would kill me for it. I'm so deep in my thoughts of Carlisle that the phone ringing makes me jump. I answer it quickly, seeing that its Alice I get a feeling of dread. "What have you seen honey?" She hasn't told me that's it's a vision, but I can tell that it is, I had a feeling.

"Daddy! Esme, get to him-now" her voice breaks and I can tell something bad has happened. I put the phone down, and smash open the door with a bit more force than I intended. I ran at human speed to the door to the surgery, leaving a scared nurse behind me, and slammed open that door as well.

If I had a heart, it would have dropped to below my feet. The nurse, still with the blood covered gloves was trying to pull one of Carlisle arms away from his body. Carlisle's eyes were closed and he was panting. I shouted at the nurse to carry on with the operation and Carlisle's nurse helped in Carlisle's place.

That left me to sort out my husband, using Vampire strength I pulled one of his arms away from him and put it over my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around his waist and helped to pull him up. I helped him walk, catching him when he faltered until we were out of that room. I closed the door behind me and scooped by husband into my arms, walking into his office, and shutting the door behind me.

I led him on the floor, his head in my hands. He opened his eyes, and his arms relaxed from around his chest. "Esme" he rasped at me. I nodded and kissed his forehead. I looked into his eyes, and they were completely black, not even a little bit of gold. "Carlisle honey, you need to hunt, how are you?" He looked up at me with his black hollow eyes, "Esme, what just happened?"

As I was about to reply however, the door opened and a strong smell of human blood entered the room. "Esme, it-it hurts' he whispered to me. "How is Dr. Cullen?" the nurse asked. I glanced at him; his arms had again fastened themselves around his stomach and he was whimpering softly. "I'm going to take him home, I'll inform you later"

And with one last glance at the nurse, I scooped Carlisle back into my arms, and he immediately stopped whimpering at the contact. I walked past the nurse, who just stared shocked at me, and out of the hospital.

Carlisle got better the further away we got from the blood; however he did not fully recover. "We are almost home darling, then you can have some blood and the pain will stop" he half smiled at me as I lifted him into the car. I didn't like seeing my husband and the coven's leader like this, and I'm hoping that the rest of the family are not at home when we get back. I would prefer it if only Alice knew what had gone on at the hospital today.

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For those of you who are reading my Harry Potter story, I've had complete writers block on it. I keep opening it to write another chapter, and then completely lose what I'm going to write. So sorry if you are reading that, I hope to finish it some time.

But thank you for reading this story; I would really appreciate reviews and if I get reviews I will try and think of another chapter. But please don't be too harsh, this is only a hobby. But the review button is just below this, I'd love to see what you think of it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed, they are much appreciated. Keeps me writing! Well, as you asked for… Chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, how ever much I wish I did!

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By the time we got closer to home, Carlisle had sat up and was now sitting stock still, staring out of the window. I knew Carlisle well enough to know that the pain that he had obviously felt back at the hospital had not completely disappeared. I also knew that he was hoping the same thing as me, that our children wouldn't be at home.

But as I turned the corner to drive up to the house, I saw the whole family stood outside; even Bella was there with Edwards arms tightly wrapped around her. I did the only thing I could think to do. I sent Edward a message in my mind 'Take the family, tell them to hunt, Carlisle is going to need blood soon. Shock filled my mind before Edward thought back 'Is he really that bad? And okay, we're off. I'm leaving Bella though'

As I parked the car outside, Edward shooed the family into the woods, giving me a nod before running off after them. Carlisle could deal with Bella being there, he's grown quite fond of her in the time she's been with us. I zoomed round to open his door and put his arm around my shoulders as I helped him to stand. He was a lot better than at the hospital, he supported most of his own weight although I wasn't sure for how long he could do that. As we got closer to Bella, I felt him stiffen and he stopped breathing. And I knew that the pain that affected his throat and chest earlier must be back, although obviously not as much.

With Bella following close behind us I felt Carlisle slowly rest more of his weight on me, I silently helped him until we were in the house. Bella wandered off and I gently lowered my husband onto the sofa, he smiled at me and I heard him whisper "Sorry" I shook my head and knelt down next to him, putting my hand on the side of his face I felt him lean into my contact. I slowly lowered my hand to his shirt, "It still hurts?" I questioned as I started to undo the buttons. "A bit" he mumbled back. With his shirt fully undone I started to rub his muscled chest with my hand.

I could feel him tensing beneath my hands as my fingers massaged a painful area before the pain died down. I knew that this would help; I can remember him telling me a story a few years after he changed me about prisoners of the Volturi that suffered from this. I never thought that I would need to use it someday, and on him of all people. He's so good around people; although I did do some research on this. I am still shocked at how he managed to stop himself from drinking that human's blood. I still blame myself, I should have noticed this way before it got to this extent. If I'd have noticed that he hadn't hunted for too long, I would have been able to stop him suffering the pain.

But I obviously didn't notice it and it was the fact that he had worked for so long without a break and hadn't hunted for ages that brought this on. Even Vampires need rest, not actual sleep but Carlisle is an example of what could happen to a Vampire. I continued to gently rub his chest as he closed his eyes. I could smell the blood, even my throat started to hurt and I heard Carlisle whimper again.

That noise broke my heart; I had never in all my time with Carlisle seen him in pain. It doesn't seem right; he's the strong one in the family. But I couldn't run away from the truth, he needs me and I'm not about to leave him to deal with this on his own. I take his hand in mine, and his whimpering stops, "It's alright baby, Bella's got some blood for you". A small smile played at his lips before he unsuccessfully tried to sit up. I helped him, propping his back against the pillows.

Bella comes into the room with a disgusted look on her face and silently hands me a cup of blood. She looks at Carlisle, her eyes resting on his open shirt before blushing red and leaving the room hastily. I inwardly laugh at her, _that's right Bella, my man is gorgeous_ I think silently to myself. Turning my attention back on Carlisle, I press my hand to his face so that he opens his eyes. I slowly raise the cup to my husband's lips and tip it so that the blood slowly flows into his mouth.

He manages to swallow most of it but as he winces from pain some flows down the side of his mouth, leaving a red trail as the blood falls onto his chest. I repeat it again, and the same happens. He opens his eyes and I see some flecks of gold in amongst a sea of black. He finishes that cup and I set it aside and wipe the blood off his face and kiss him. He leans into my kiss, and one of his arms wraps around my back.

CPOV

Esme kisses me and I find enough strength to put my arm around her, one cup hasn't made much difference to my strength although the agony in my chest is going slowly. I hear a cough from behind me and Esme extracts herself from me and my arms falls to rest of my stomach. Bella comes back into my sight as she hands Esme another cup. I hate having to rely on Esme to feed me; it makes me feel like a child again.

Esme brings the cup to my lips again, I swallow the blood, and it burns all the way down my throat before settling like a fireball in my stomach. I feel a wet line run down my chin and drop onto my bare chest, and I know the blood must have dribbled from my mouth when it burned.

I see Esme look up and I too hear faint voices, the kids must be home. I hear Edward silently asking me how I am through my mind, I reply hopefully not too weakly _Better, son. I'm sorry. _Obviously my hope didn't happen because he rushes in the door the next minute and kneels in front of me. "Esme, can you get me some more blood?" I watch Esme rush off in the direction of the kitchen.

The others are obviously staying out of my line of sight, and Edward takes the cup from Esme and putting one hand in my hair, for a reason I did not know, and lifted the cup to my mouth. Using the hand in my hair to keep my head still, he poured the whole cup into my mouth and told me in a menacing tone to drink it. I tried to obey him, but it was too much, the pain increased to worse than it was at the hospital and my body tried to expel whatever was hurting it so much. I saw Edward smirk as I my body made me throw up all the blood that Esme had tried to give me. I led there gasping as all my strength left me again. Esme came back to me and prized Edwards hand from my hair and explained to me "Honey, I'm so sorry. I forgot that you needed human blood and not animal blood" I closed my eyes and nodded.

Edward returned with a full cup of human blood, and my chest exploded much the same as it had done in the hospital. I bared my teeth but refused to make a noise, Edward brought the cup straight to my lips and I drank quickly and messily. With every mouthful my chest got slightly better, when I opened my eyes again Edward smiled and I knew they must be red.

I let Esme come over and lift me up as you would a child, and Edward followed us up to our room. When we got up there Esme takes me into our big bathroom where the bath was already ready. Edwards waits in our room, while Esme lowers me fully-clothed into the bath, before joining me. The hot water soothes my chest as Esme takes off my shirt and wraps her arms around me. "Don't ever do that again, please honey. You almost broke my heart" I mumble sorry as Esme's hands massage my aching muscles. She massages my whole chest before her hands skim past my ribs to massage my back.

I can start to feel my strength coming back as Esme puts her arms under mine and lifts me out of the hot bath. Putting one of my arms around her shoulders I rest my head on her as she leads me into our room where Edward is waiting for us. I see him laugh at us, at Esme who is still completely fully clothed and me who is still half dressed; my trousers streaming water onto the floor.

Edward is about to say something, but the door bursts open and Alice rushes in. "Edward, they've seen!" she gasps, glancing at Carlisle. "Daddy" she smiles going over to him and giving him an awkward hug with Esme still helping him stay upright. "Alice, what have you seen?"

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Okay, hope you liked it. I have decided to carry this on, I'm not sure how long it is going to be but I have an idea for the next couple of chapters. So please review and tell me what you think. Can anyone guess what Alice has seen? I'd love to know :D Until next chapter…


	3. Chapter 3

Well this was a quick chapter update; actually I wrote it on Sunday and decided to put it up today. There is going to be more action in the next chapter, I have tried to explain a bit in this chapter. But if there is something you still don't understand, feel free to ask me.

Now, **Carlislelover1234** – you guessed right, well done!

**Dixie.f.9 **– Very close, the humans do have something to do with it!

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"_Edward, they've seen!" she gasps, glancing at Carlisle "Daddy" she smiles going over to him and giving him an awkward hug with Esme still helping him stay upright. "Alice, what have you seen?"_

EPOV

From a quick glance at Carlisle I saw his legs shaking ever so slightly, it would have been invisible to any human eye. I realized that his strength still hadn't come back and he might not be standing much longer if he didn't lie down soon. I sent my thoughts at Esme. She obviously heard them and slowly lifted Carlisle into her arms and put him gently on the bed, his wet trousers soaking the bed straight away. He immediately closed his eyes and stopped breathing, I watched Esme climb to lie next to him, resting her head on his chest and putting an arm around him.

I turned back to Alice and walked out of the room, indicating for her to follow. "Alice, what was it?" She still looked scared and I put my arm around her. "Edward, they've seen!" I nodded and she continued. "The Volturi know about Carlisle, it happened in the hospital. In front of the nurses" I saw through her mind a vivid picture of Carlisle on the floor, arms pressed against his chest, a look of surprise and agony on his face. And the nurse, holding out a blood stained hand to help Carlisle up. I shook my head and that seemed shake Alice out of that memory as well. "They are coming here?"

Alice showed me the vision, _I saw Carlisle walk proudly up to the door and open it. As soon as it was open, Aro grabbed Carlisle and pushed him to his knees. I saw the whole family rush to the door, as Jane came up behind Aro._ And the vision faded into black, and I thought about it. "How long do you think we have?" Alice contemplated it, "Well, Carlisle looks well there, stronger I mean. Few days, possibly a week?"

I nodded, and Alice thought the same thing as me. "Let's not tell Carlisle or Esme just yet, Esme will panic!" I agreed with her, "And Carlisle will get stressed, he needs time to recover" "Tell them tomorrow?" Alice nodded at me and I went off downstairs to inform the others of a possible attack from Aro.

Emmett and Alice kept telling me to get Jacob involved, but I wasn't so sure, this didn't have anything to do with Bella so I doubted Jake would help. But again, like everything else I get persuaded to do, I found my self outside Jacob's house knocking on the door.

He answered it straight away, and seeing me, looked instantly worried. "What's happened?" "Nothing to do with Bella, calm down dog" He growled at me, "Then what are you doing here?" I sighed, hoping he was going to help us. "We might need your help, its Carlisle, we think the Volturi might want to kill him" Jacob gasped. "Of course I'll help, no one kills one of you stinking Vampires in my town" he growled. "Thank you" I sighed with relief.

I turned to leave and Jacob followed me, "What are you doing?" He just looked at me "Coming to see if Carlisle is alright" he said as if it was obvious. I shook my head. "Jake, you can't. He doesn't even know that he's in danger yet" He stared open mouthed at me. "You haven't told him? He could be dead tomorrow and he doesn't even know" I laughed, "No, of course not. They are not coming tomorrow! They are coming when he's better, we will tell him tomorrow" I shook my head at Jacob; he really can be stupid sometimes.

I thought about it for a second, "Do you really want to see Carlisle?" Jacob nodded "I like him, and I want to know if he's okay" I narrowed my eyes. "Fine but only quickly" He smiled, turned into a wolf straight before my eyes and I took a step back. He ran straight past me and into the forest in the direction of our house. I followed him.

JPOV

I ran in front of Edward, I wanted to see Bella as well as Carlisle. I got there, by paws skidding in the mud before I changed back into a human. I sprinted into the house and Bella came up to greet me.

I hugged her, smiling. Until I heard a cough from behind me, Edward was standing there, a low growl coming from him. Oops. "Sorry, blood sucker" I smiled at him, hoping that he was going to get the funny side of it.

I thought I saw a hint of a smile on his lips before he walked past me, indicating for me to follow. I turned on the spot and followed him up the stairs, scared about what could have happened to Carlisle to make the Volturi get involved.

He led me to what I assumed was their room and opened the door, telling me to be very quiet because Carlisle was resting. I nodded and followed him in. I smiled at the sight of them, Carlisle did not look good. But what made me smile was Esme, her head on his chest and she was smiling and singing quietly to Carlisle.

Carlisle opened his eyes, I gasped. They were like black tunnels, endless black tunnels. I saw Edward next to me gasp as well. Esme looked up into Carlisle's face, "Honey, I think you need more blood again" There was a hint of humor in her voice. There was a low growl coming from Carlisle and he closed his eyes again.

I just stared shocked at him. "Its hurts again doesn't it, darling?" Esme whispered to him, her hand coming up to stroke his face. Edward looked between me and Esme before saying "Esme, I think Alice has seen something. Can you go and ask her, Jacob can help me bring Carlisle downstairs" I nodded reassuringly as Esme and she agreed. "Be careful with him" and she left.

I walked toward Carlisle, appearing a lot calmer than I felt. Edward came over and pulled Carlisle into a sitting position, and motioned for me to put one of his arms over my shoulder. I did so, and as I stood up, Carlisle did his best to stand up too. We walked out of the room and downstairs.

EPOV

Going down in front of Carlisle, I walked off to find Alice as Jacob took Carlisle to sit down. I found her in the kitchen, "Ed, Charlie is coming! He heard about the thing at the hospital and he's coming to see how he is!" I stood there staring at her, "So we need to get Carlisle to drink now!" I rushed around table and into Carlisle's office where his human blood is, grabbed a couple of bags and a cup.

And went to give them to Carlisle, "Dad, Charlie is coming, you need to drink this now" I felt Carlisle's shock fill my mind, _Can't you tell him I'm fine and to come back later? _"Carlisle, its going to be fine, drink this and we'll sort it"

I could feel his pain settling in my mind and I brought the blood to him quickly. He took it from me and drank, only a little dribbling down his chin which I quickly wiped away.

I realized that Carlisle still didn't have a shirt on; I didn't think that Charlie would like that. "Esme, maybe you should go and get Carlisle a shirt" I said sniggering. Carlisle looked down at himself and smiled, glancing thankfully up at me. When Carlisle had finished the blood, he rested his head on the pillow, gathering his strength for Charlie.

I did feel slightly sorry for him; I know even when he drank all that blood, the smell of Charlie's blood wouldn't be easy.

CPOV

I couldn't believe this was happening; if Charlie knows then the whole town will know soon. I'm surprised the Volturi aren't smashing down the door right now. I smelt him before I heard him; I waited for the pain to come but it never came. I smiled up at Edward and he must have read my mind. I push myself up into a sitting position, a little of my strength back.

Esme luckily comes and sits next to me, obviously thinking that Charlie might want to sit there. She puts her arm around my shoulder and squeezes reassuringly. Charlie comes in, escorted by Jacob. He see's me and says "You nearly had the ambulance round here, ya know?" None of us thought that the hospital might send out an ambulance.

"I managed to persuade them you didn't need one, said you was a Doctor and could look after yourself" I smiled at him "Thank you Charlie, I feel a lot better now" I breathed in and the pain hit me. I gasped and gritted my teeth trying not to make a noise, and I sent my thoughts to Edward _Please, Ed. Get him out of here. _I knew I wasn't ready for humans yet, I mean it was only this morning that I collapsed at the hospital.

Edward nodded slightly at me, and spoke loudly "So Charlie, do you want to come and see Bella quickly?" Charlie nodded at me, "Good to see your feeling better, I'll pass that on; everyone at the stations worried" He walked off after Edward and shut the door behind him.

As soon as he was gone, Esme wrapped her arms around me and I grunted, doubling over as much as Esme's arms would let me. As Charlie got further away from me, the pain started to subside. "Esme, this is annoying me now" I straightened up a bit, "I know honey, but you knew the consequences of not feeding or resting" I thought about it, yes I did know what could happen but I didn't think of it. I just thought that the hospital needs me, so I'll help until someone tells me to go home. "Never mind, you'll be fine in a few days" she smiles and rubs my back.

Esme sat thinking and rubbing my back while I shut my eyes and waited for the pain to completely abide. "Ya know what?" she whispered to me. I opened my eyes and stared into her golden ones, "I want to play the piano with you" I nodded and she got up, grabbed my hand in hers and yanked me up from the sofa. I loved being able to walk more of less by myself for the first time in about 6 hours. Esme was holding tightly onto my hand, ready to catch me if I should fall.

But I knew there was no way I was going to need her help, I felt better than I had for the last week. We both sat on the piano chair and played one of our classical favorites.

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Thank you for reading; I'm hoping I haven't lost any of my readers! Again please review, the last reviews got me writing it very quickly. So thank you for reviewing the last chapter. So please review this chapter as well, and there will be some more action in the next chapter… well I hope so anyway! I'm halfway through writing Chapter 4, so I am hoping to get it finished within the next couple of days! Until next chapter…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Well sorry for the long gap, it was about this time in my Harry Potter fic that I got writers block with it. So I forced myself to finish this chapter, so this is my longest story. I have a couple of different possibilities for where this may go next. Well this was certainly my favourite chapter to write so far, but then I'm weird like that. So hopefully you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.**

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We sat there together humming and playing for the whole night. It got dark and light again, and we were still playing to each other. We would have played for a lot longer if Edward hadn't come in to stop us. He stood by the door, we had no idea how long he had been there but when we finally saw him, we stopped.

"I think its time to feed again, Carlisle" I groaned, I hated human blood. Yes it was lovely, and it tasted a lot better than animal blood, but it felt so wrong; being a vegetarian my whole life. "I'd prefer animal blood today" I mumbled to him and he looked at me.

"How are you going to catch this animal then?" Ah, hadn't thought of that. Maybe I can hunt. I stand up and move out of the way of the piano. Here to Edward; I can make that! And I sprint, much like I would when I hunt. But my body is obviously not ready for that and after a few steps I trip over my own feet and end up flying towards Edward.

I can't stop myself from falling, so I shut my eyes and wait. But suddenly Edward is there. He catches me in a bear hug before I hit the floor. So maybe I'm not ready yet then.

He sits down on the floor, pulling me down with him and he sits so I am leaning on him. Esme comes forward and sits down with us, "I know, I can catch your hunt and bring it to you? We just have to get you out there" I smile at her, my hand reaches to her and she grasps it firmly. I have the best wife a vampire could hope for.

I feel Edward pulling me up, and I assume he's agreed. "So, how are we getting you out then?" he asks me and Esme. There is no I am letting anyone carry me out, I feel a lot better; I can walk for myself. Edward reads my mind and I say quickly to him, "With a little help I can walk"

Edward pulls my right arm over his shoulder, and his left arm comes around my waist. He nods at Esme and we go downstairs, I feel so much better now. I'm pretty sure in a few more days I'll be back at work, I'm looking forward to getting back to work, although I'm looking forward to being able to walk and run for myself more.

I'd been in such deep thought, that when I look around me Edward has gone and its now Esme's arms around my waist. We are already deep in the forest and finally she extracts herself from me and I sit down on the forest floor. And she sprints off.

How did I even get like this? Unable to hunt for myself, I know the hospital was busy but this has never happened before. Ever. Even in my days with the Volturi, I didn't hunt for weeks there; they all had human blood and I refused to drink it, so I went without feeding quite a lot. Even then this never happened. I sighed, never mind at least I can make sure this never happens again.

I heard my wife catch the deer, its high pitched squeals filling the forest. She ran back and left it at my feet before rushing off to catch one for herself. I dropped to my knees in front of it, I was so thirsty. I buried my teeth in its coat and pierced the skin, warm blood filling my mouth.

I drank a lot messier than I normally would. I was too busy with my deer to see that Esme had brought hers back and was sat next to me. We both drank in silence, when I finished, I wiped my mouth and my arm came back covered in blood. Okay, so I was a lot messier than usual.

Esme looked up and laughed at me. I growled playfully at her as she came closer to wipe the blood from my face. "Don't you growl at me, don't forget I would win a fight for the next few days" she said baring her teeth at me. I smiled, letting another growl slip past my lips.

It happened in a blink of an eye, she pounced on me; pinning my back to the hard floor. Another deep growl rose from my chest, as I threw her off me. I wanted to fight, the animal blood brought back all my strength; I wanted to take advantage while I could. She leaped up, and I clambered up unsteadily. I jumped at her, but she had guessed my move and jumped as well. Her hand encircled my waist and we came crashing to the ground with her on top of me.

"I think I win, honey" she smiled sweetly at me, and I tried to throw her off me. She put both her hands on my chest and pushed down, my strength was leaving now and I couldn't push her off. Her hands were pinning me to the forest floor. I closed my eyes and sighed; "Okay darling, you win" She jumped off me and stood up. Grabbing my arm she pulled me up as well.

We walked hand in hand back to the house where Edward was waiting outside for us. "Looks like you lost, old man" he grinned at me and I knew he had been reading Esme's thoughts. "Enjoy it while you can, I'll win again soon" Esme looked up into my face and smiled.

"Looked like that helped a lot then" He sounded surprised, indicating me walking by myself. I grinned, "That's good, I can't wait to get back to work" Esme frowned and Edward smirked. "Don't worry, the whole family will make sure he doesn't do it again" If I had been human I would have blushed with embarrassment at that. I just walked past them, and into the house.

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The sun was starting to disappear behind the mountains now. I had sat on the sofa and put on the TV when I got back from the hunting. I haven't moved since then, there is a programme about Vampires on; it's interesting how little humans know about us!

About an hour ago the kids had left to hunt and Esme had come and sat next to me on the sofa. She put her arm around my shoulder and I leaned into her touch, not taking my eye off the TV. She growled in my ear so I turned my head and kissed her from the side and she smiled. I turned so I was facing her, looking into her gorgeous face. "You are the most beautiful person I have ever met" I mumbled at her as I rested my head on her shoulder.

She pulled back and grinned at me, "As are you, my darling" She leaned in for a kiss, but the sound of someone knocking on the door stopped us. I turned and smelled the air; it was a Vampire's scent. I had smelt it before, but I couldn't pinpoint whose it was.

"I'll go" I muttered to Esme. Pushing myself off the sofa, and walked to the front door. I had no idea who it could be; the scent was getting stronger with every step. I could smell more than one Vampire, I could smell three scents.

Wondering which Vampire would possibly be calling for us, I opened the door. Before I even got one glance at whoever was behind the door, I felt a strong pressure push me backwards. I went flying through the air, not being able to stop myself and crashing into the wall. Black obscured my vision as I went crashing through the wall, and collided with the kitchen table.

As my vision started coming back, I saw Aro standing over me. I gasped and shot upright. I put my hands up and said quietly "Aro, why have you come, my dear friend?"

I held my head up high, and walked past him. But he obviously had other plans; his hand shot out and grabbed my neck. I let out a chocked gasp as I was in the middle of talking. All the air rushed from my lungs and he turned pulling me with him. I could do nothing else except let him.

He dragged me into the front room and I stared shocked at Esme. She was kneeling on the floor, with Alec standing smiling over her. Jane had sat on the sofa that Esme and I were on only a few minutes ago. I growled at her, and Aro threw me to the floor next to Esme.

"Aro, my friend. Why are you here?" Lots of possibilities ran through my head, from things I have done behind the Volturi's back when I served them, to Bella still being a Human.

"You know, Carlisle" he spat my name, and I frowned trying to remember. Aro walked closer, grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled me closer to him. His actions took me by surprise as I felt him yank me towards him.

We were face to face now; he looked straight into my eyes and grabbed my hand. I sensed him going through all my memories from the last couple of days, and he made me relive the scene at the hospital again. Pain filled my mind and I smelt the human blood from my patient again. Aro took his hand away and the pain vanished.

"That" he growled "you have risked the exposure of our kind!" I heard Esme gasp, "surely not" she said, shocked. Aro nodded, "They saw your reaction to the blood, if they work it out, we will have to kill them or risk the whole town finding out about us!" I shook my head. He grabbed my neck again and pulled me up, "You don't believe me?" He growled, right in my face. His hand effectively stopped me from breathing so I wasn't able to reply.

He nodded at someone behind me and promptly let go of me. I filled my lungs "No-"I managed to say before I heard Jane say "Pain" behind me in a low voice. I heard Esme shout "No!" and the pain hit me like a wall. I shut me eyes, not letting Aro see the pain I was in. I stayed standing, fighting the pain in my head, blocking everything else out; Aro's laughing and Esme's screaming.

This was 100 times worse than at the hospital, but I knew there was nothing I could do about this other than fight it. But then I heard Jane's angry shout and the pain intensified, my knees buckled and I felt my back slamming against the floor. I faintly heard Aro say "Let her go to him" The pain suddenly stopped, and I opened my eyes to see my love kneeling over me.

But the pain started all over again as soon as I saw her. I yelled out at the sudden attack, before I clamped my jaw and refused to let out another sound. I was shaking, badly. I knew it; I could feel every wave of pain shake my body. I vaguely felt Esme lift me into her lap, wrapping her arms tightly around me as if trying to stop the shaking.

I fought to keep still, for Esme. I panted heavily for breath I didn't need as I fought every wave of pain that sent my body trembling against my will. Esme grabbed my hand and squeezed it, her other arm still around my chest. Her touch comforted me; I fought with my mind to control the pain. I let out a growl of pain as I forced my body to stop shaking. Jane kept up her attack as I tried to shut the pain into the back of my mind.

My body stopped shaking and I had stopped panting, Esme had squeezed my hand in a silent way of saying 'you're doing great'. I almost smiled but I heard Aro say "Jane". I knew what he had asked before it happened. I knew he wasn't about to ask her to stop the pain.

It almost doubled, it was like someone had opened the door at the back of my mind, and the pain came flooding back to the front. I screamed in agony, I couldn't hold it in. I heard Esme sobbing in my ear as I tensed and clamped my jaw closed again.

I couldn't help the whimpers that passed my lips, as the waves of pain came faster and bigger than before. My body shook again when every wave crashed over my mind. My body convulsed and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Esme's arms pressed hard against my torso trying to stop me and comfort me.

I didn't know how much more I could take of this. I had been under Jane's power a few times before, but nothing was anything like this. I was panting heavier than before, my body still trembling and convulsing even with Esme's arms.

Then I heard Aro say "Jane". The pain lifted and my body stopped convulsing, but instead lay still. I couldn't move, not even to breathe. If I was Human, I would have died way before now. Even as a Vampire I didn't think I had long left, that's if it can actually kill a Vampire.

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**Thank you so much for reading. I must say thank you to cullensardinia for your very kind words, they kept me writing. And also to CarlisleLover1234 who has also kept me writing with your great reviews… and I apologise for any grammar errors. This may sound weird but English is my weakest subject and I really don't enjoy it. I only do this because I enjoy it, so I'm really sorry for any mistakes. Oh and plot holes, I'm really good at missing out bits of the story that I've thought of in my head but completely forgot to explain in the story. But please please review, it does help me write… just to know that I still have readers that like what I'm writing. And I'm sorry if there's anyone that doesn't like where I'm going with this. Until next chapter…**


	5. Chapter 5

Bit of writers block with this chapter, wasn't sure with route I should take the story down. But the plot bunnies decided more whump, and I can't argue with the plot bunnies. Although my hamster hasn't been very helpful with this chapter, he was walking over the keyboard as I was trying to type. So I have checked it over a few times and couldn't find any spelling mistakes, but if there is any blame Carlisle as he was walking all over my keyboard. Anyway on with the show!

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Esme POV

I wrapped my arms tighter around my husband as he trembled in pain. If I were capable of tears I was positive I'd be weeping heavily by now. I opened my eyes and looked down at my husband; pain traced every line of his face. I could feel him tensing beneath my hands, trying to control the pain.

I could almost feel the pain that crashed over his body, as his quiet whimpers threatened to turn me into a sobbing wreck. I looked up, while trying to keep Carlisle still. "Jane" I heard Aro's threatening tone behind me, I looked at her. She took her eyes off Carlisle and looked at me.

Carlisle slumped in my arms, trembling slightly before falling deadly still. He was paler than I had ever seen him. I turned to look at Aro, "Why?" Aro gave me a wide grin before saying "He risked the exposure of our kind, he must be punished" I growled and if I hadn't been holding onto my husband, I would have jumped at Aro.

I chocked back a sob. "Aro, he didn't mean to. It wasn't his fault!" Jane came to stand next to Aro, she looked at him and then back at Carlisle, not moving in my arms. "We have to take him back with us" she smirked "he must learn not to do that again"

No! I would not let them take him! I had no idea what they would do to him. I growled loudly "No way! You are not taking my husband; you will have to get through me first" Alec walked over to Aro and whispered something in his ear; I could have listened in if I wanted but Carlisle was stirring in my arms.

I looked down, and watched his eyes flutter open slowly. His tired eyes focussed slowly on my face, they were as dark as tunnels. "Esme" he gasped, he voice raspy from the torture.

His muscles tensed uncertainly as he tried to sit up, I helped him. Aro turned from Alec to look at Carlisle, hatred evident on his face. "Aro- let me- explain" he gasped. "No" I almost screamed as Aro moved forward, grabbed Carlisle's arm and yanked him up to face him.

Carlisle shut his eyes and clenched his teeth as he knees buckled beneath him for the second time. Alec was behind him immediately, pulling him up roughly. My husband trembled as Alec put an arm around his waist from behind, and Carlisle let his head fall forward; hiding his face behind a curtain of blond hair.

Suddenly Jane was behind me, twisting my arms uncomfortably behind my back. Aro smiled at her and moved closer to Carlisle. "Don't touch him!" I shouted "You've done enough" Aro turned to me, "Oh no, dear Esme." I struggled in Jane's arms as Aro moved closer to my husband. Jane twisted my arms further, and I was stuck. I couldn't move at all. I just had to stand and watch as Aro stood right in front of Carlisle.

Aro's hand went under his chin, and yanked his head up to face him. At Aro's touch I saw Carlisle's eyes glaze over and I knew Aro was looking at his thoughts. Alec's hand that wasn't around my husbands waist came up and circled his neck; stopping his head from falling forward again.

Aro spoke slowly "So then, would you care to explain?" Carlisle nodded, his black eyes staring straight into Aro's red ones. "I- the hospital was busy, I umm worked a lot, forgot to feed" Aro narrowed his eyes and I knew Carlisle was saying the wrong things. I had no choice but to take over if I wanted them to leave us "The nurse just thought he was ill, I encouraged that, said he'd be ill for a while"

Carlisle had closed his eyes now, not wanting to interfere with what I was saying. "And what about you carrying him out of the hospital, how did you explain that to the nurse?" he growled "Surely, that can't be explained" I smirked; I knew Carlisle wasn't going to like what I said to her. "My thoughts" I muttered, yanking my hand from Jane and holding it out to Aro.

Aro took it and I guided his probing to the right memory. I showed him me on the phone to the nurse. _"Mrs. Cullen, is Dr. Cullen okay?" "He's not too bad, he's been ill for a while and all the work and no rest has obviously just caught up to him" "Tell him he can stay off for as long as he wants, and please tell me I'm not seeing things. You did carry him out didn't you?" "Ah, yes I did. He's been ill for a while, so he hasn't been eating properly. He's lost quite a lot of weight recently, but don't worry. That's all getting sorted out" I heard the nurse sigh with relief "Okay, I noticed that he had"_

Aro broke away, "She believed your lie?" he said shocked. I smiled sweetly "Yes, I think so" He left me and walked back over to Carlisle. Carlisle opened his eyes wearily when he heard Aro in front of him. "Looks like your wife saved you from being killed" Aro smiled "But you still have to come with us, I'll give you a minute and then we're leaving"

Alec let Carlisle sink slowly to his knees and walked out of the room after Aro and Jane. I looked at my husband, on his knees with his arms by his side; his head had fallen forward so his hair hides his face again. I crawl over to him and move the hair from his face, he looks up at me. "I'm so sorry Esme" he whispers.

I sit next to him, not speaking. There must be another way, they can't take him! There is no way I'm letting them. "Carlisle darling, it's not your fault. I'm coming with you" I watch as shock fills his unfocussed eyes. "No! If you get hurt I will never forgive myself" he whispers. Could Vampires go into shock? Because I think Carlisle might have done.

He was shaking although he couldn't have been cold. I put my arm around him. He knows what the Volturi are going to do to him, and it's bad. I think that might have been why he left the Volturi at the start; I've heard stories about prisoners of the Volturi. I don't believe them but looking at Carlisle, now I'm not so sure.

He needs someone to protect him, and I am definitely that person. I won't let him suffer this on his own. Our only other option is to stall them and hope that the children get back soon. I whisper this to Carlisle, he looks at me and his eyes tell me that it's a stupid idea. "Don't pull them into this" he pleads quietly.

I nod; the thought of the children going through the same thing Carlisle did persuades me. He stands unsteadily and I take a position under his arm, supporting him. Aro comes back into the room straight away followed by the others. "Are you ready to leave?" Aro turned, not giving me any time to reply. "Aro, I'm coming as well"

He turned slowly, and smiled. "Of course you can't". I looked straight into the blood red eyes "If you want us to come quietly so we don't alert the others. Then I'm coming as well"

"Fine, but you will not interrupt our plans" I sighed with relief and squeezed Carlisle reassuringly. "Alec take Esme, Jane take Carlisle" Aro muttered. "I can help Carlisle" I butt in quickly. They were not separating me from Carlisle. "Oh no, Esme! You might be plotting a way to overpower us" Aro smiled sweetly.

I'd decided that I wasn't going to leave Carlisle's side, so I wasn't going to. "No way" I snarled. Alec had come over and held onto my arm. "Esme" Aro warned. I just stared at him, "No, I will not leave-" but I didn't get to finish my sentence. Carlisle gasped and collapsed into me, I caught him. It was Jane again.

"Fine, fine" I yelled, "Just stop!" Jane took his eyes off Carlisle, and I helped him stand up again. Carlisle seemed fine, probably the shock of such a sudden attack more than anything. I gave his arm a quick squeeze as I walked over to Alec.

Jane held Carlisle as Aro turned to leave. I watched as Jane marched Carlisle out of the house. He had recovered quite quickly, he was pretty much walking on his own. The only thing that reminded me that earlier ever happened was when he stumbled slightly, but quickly regained his footing. I begged silently in my mind for the children to come home soon and trace us. Carlisle and I alone could not overpower them, but the whole family could.

They took us out of the house and I saw a van parked waiting for us. The Volturi are driving a van? Since when? I couldn't think of a possible reason why, it would have been much quicker to run. But here it was, a girl I had never seen before already sat in the driver's seat.

Aro opened up the back doors. Jane threw Carlisle in first with a crash before I felt myself leave the floor and fly into the back of the van. Carlisle who had been getting up fell back into the wall of the van as I came crashing on top of him. I slid off quickly and looked into his face.

"Are you okay, darling?" he smiled his cheeky grin. "Of course, my love" he replied to me. We sat in silence for a while, his arms pressing me against his chest as I let the slow rise and fall of his chest calm me. "Do you think the kids will be able to track us?' I mumbled at him. "I think so" he said reassuringly but the tone of his voice told me that he doubted it.

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Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed on the last chapter.

C**ullensardinia – Will try to explain everything in the next chapter, but thanks so much for reviewing.**

**CarlisleLover1234 – Alright then Grammar Police, I'm actually surprised you haven't arrested me yet then! Hopefully the grammar in this chapter wasn't too bad… if it was, arrest the hamster! Anyway, thanks for reviewing :D**

Slightly shorter, yes I know. But… this seemed like a good place to stop. Next chapter: the rest of the family get back home and bit more of Carlisle and Esme. Hopefully gonna have a whump free chapter next. Anyway, please review, tell me what you think. Not too sure if I picked the right route, I had three options, and I had no idea which one you guys would prefer. Now, HAPPY CHRISTMAS! Well for tomorrow anyway.

Hey look, a review would be the perfect Christmas present!


	6. Chapter 6

Okay, well I apologise for the late update. But it has been Christmas, New Year, my Birthday, my sister birthday, and I've had a load of exams. But this is chapter 6... I hope you enjoy it.

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Edwards POV

As soon as the family had drunk all they wanted, we re-grouped to go back home to Carlisle and Esme. It was nice to see everyone with bright gold eyes instead of black. As we got closer to the house, I stopped; feet skidding through the mud and leaves. I could sense everyone stopping and looking at me. But I wasn't looking at them, something was off. I couldn't hear Carlisle's or Esme's thoughts. And there was a weird smell in the air.

A smell that was strangely familiar but I couldn't think what it was. I turned and smelt it again, not one smell; there was three. They smelt like Vampires. Thoughts were racing around my head, trying to come up with an idea. Why would Vampires be here?

Then it hit me like a wall. I turned to Alice. "How many of the Volturi did you see?" Alice stared at me; I could hear her thoughts of fear for Carlisle. "I only saw 2, Edward" she said quietly "Why?" The whole family was watching me intently. "Can't you smell it?" I said shocked. I watched them smell the air and I heard murmur of agreement. "I can smell three, can it be the Volturi?" I asked, getting worried.

Alice's thoughts filled my head but I ignored them, deep in thought myself. "Edward, I don't want to scare you but I haven't actually seen a vision since Charlie came, nothing at all" I looked at her, the last of my thoughts disappearing into mist as I tried to figure out what that meant. "What if they've found a way to stop Alice having visions about them?"

I watched shock and fear fill my family's faces and I turned on the spot and ran off in the direction of our house; everyone following close behind me. I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw the house. The front door was wide open, and everyone knows Carlisle never leaves the door open.

As we approached the door, we all cautiously stepped into the house. The scent of the Volturi was stronger outside so they had already left. I gasped when I saw the state of the house. The wall directly in front of the door had a hole in it, and bits of the wall were still falling down; it was as though someone had been pushed through it.

I walked past the broken wall and into the kitchen, this room wasn't much better. Half of the table was littered on the floor, the other half standing up unsteadily on one leg. I put the pieces together in my mind. Either Carlisle or Esme had gone through the wall, and with a lot of force. They went straight through the wall and into the kitchen table. The rest of the kitchen seemed fine, so I assumed that whoever was here moved the fighting into another room.

I moved back into the hallway and turned right into the lounge where the rest of the family were gathered. This looked relatively untouched, but something did happen in here. I saw a small dent in the wood floor. I knelt next to it; it wasn't big enough for someone to have been slammed into the floor. So maybe they fell? But then the same question resounded in my head, who was it?

"Edward" I heard Rosalie behind me, and I turned to face her. "Have they taken Carlisle and Esme?" I looked around the room; Jasper was refusing to believe that the Volturi would have taken Carlisle and Esme. Alice was worrying about her visions, and I could sense her trying to look into Carlisle's future. "What's his future like?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

She looked into my eyes, and I knew it was very bad. "Nothing?" I questioned quietly. Then I realized something, "if the Volturi have stopped you from having visions of them, and Carlisle is with them then you won't be able to see his future?" The room went silent while everyone thought about what I had just said.

Finally Alice nodded "in theory that would be correct, but I've never heard of this happening before!" I had to be honest, I have never heard of this happening before either, but it was the only explanation of how the Volturi changed their minds without Alice seeing.

But, what do we do now? I can still smell all the Volturi's scents here. I'm pretty much certain that the Volturi have taken them both, but what I don't understand is why they took Esme as well. They don't want her for anything; it was only Carlisle that they came for. But then Alice didn't see when they changed their minds the first time, so she won't see if they've changed their minds about Esme.

I didn't want to wait any longer, the only conclusion I could come up with was following the scents. I was so sure that they had both gone with the Volturi, but I heard Alice doubting it. I could hear her thoughts; she was thinking that Esme had gone for help.

I decided to get straight to the point. "Right, if I go to follow the scents of the Volturi who is coming with me and who is staying here?" Alice was the first to answer, "I am coming with you" I assumed Rosalie and Jasper would stay at home, because of Jasper's problem with blood. Emmett kissed Rosalie and walked to stand next to me, "Count me in"

They quickly said good bye and I explained that they needed to stay in the house incase Esme hadn't gone with them. I then sent the most convincing smile I could at Alice and Emmett, but my mind kept wondering back to the destroyed wall and table. I had come to the conclusion that it was either Carlisle or Esme that had gone through that. That would have explained why Carlisle and Esme had both left without a hint or anything.

I nodded farewell to Rosalie and Emmett and looked over at the others. "We'll run?" I questioned. I saw Alice nod, and I walked confidently outside. Their smell was still thick in the air, so we had a very strong trail to follow. Luckily there was a forest that ran alongside the road for about 15 minutes of running. Their smell was getting fainter, and I realized what they had done.

They've taken our parents along the small road that leads to the motorway. Their scent was getting weaker because the car fumes were mixing with the smell. When we got to the motorway it would be almost impossible to distinguish their smell from the smell of all the cars.

The trees were starting to thin now; I could see the road through the trees. There were lots more cars now and I worked out that we were very close to the motorway. Suddenly the trees stopped and I skidded to a halt to stop myself from being seen by the cars that went speeding along the road beside me.

Emmett and Alice stopped beside me and I looked over to them. "I can hardly smell them anymore". Emmett agreed with me and replied "So what do we do now?" I shook my head but Alice replied to him before I got the chance. "We go to Volterra" she said simply.

I shook my head; I doubted that they'd take them there. The Volturi would have taken them to the closest of their homes. Well, if you can call them homes. Settlements, workplaces would probably be better words.

"No, they would have taken them to Portland" I said, I was sure that I was right. Both Alice and Emmett looked puzzled. "Do you ever listen to Carlisle's stories of the Volturi?" I didn't wait for an answer before explaining "They are based in Volterra, but they have other bases as well. The closest and biggest one is in Portland.

Emmett smiled, "Then what are we waiting for?" he questioned happily. Both Alice and I shared amused glances before following Emmett.

I had entered my resting state as a Vampire. It was the closest to sleep a Vampire could get. At some point I felt Carlisle move into a laying down position, which was more comfortable for me. After he had led down, I had moved as well. So now one of my arms was underneath Carlisle's body and the other wrapped loosely around his torso, my head resting on his shoulder.

We had stayed like this for the best part of 3 hours before something brought me out of my resting state. It was Carlisle, I could feel his muscles twitching; his shoulder tensing and un-tensing underneath my head.

He was obviously remembering the pain back at the house so I lightly shook him to get him out of his resting state. He sat bolt upright before looking around, slightly confused. "Honey, I'm here" he looked at me and smiled. "Of course, stuck in this stupid van being taken to the Volturi base to be tortured" he growled.

I looked shocked at his deep, scary voice. "Baby, no. I won't let them touch you again" I promised, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him closer. He let me pull him closer and I heard him whisper "its fine, love. I'm getting what I deserve"

I pulled away, "Carlisle" I said, waiting for him to look me in the eyes "no one deserves this, especially not you". He sat there for a couple of minutes, contemplating what I just said. When he couldn't find the words, he just brought me closer and held me close to him.

Suddenly I felt the van stop, and heard the door open. There were voices outside, I recognized Aro's but I couldn't work out what he was saying. A few seconds later the back doors opened and Aro came in. "Carlisle and Esme, I trust you are comfortable back here" he said smiling. I felt Carlisle extract himself from my arms as he looked up at Aro and said "It's very nice thank you, you should try it back here". I could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

Aro seemed to have heard it as well because he came up to Carlisle and lifted him up by his shirt front. "I would recommend you shut up" he said warningly. I saw Carlisle stare right into his eyes and Aro just stared back. Finally he let him go and Carlisle sat down heavily next to me. I squeezed his hand in a silent plea to be silent. I felt him squeeze back and I hoped he had understood.

"Anyway" Aro went on "We've decided against going to Volterra, we're stopping in Portland" We both stayed silent and Aro turned and jumped out before slamming the doors. "Why did he tell us that?" I questioned quietly. Carlisle didn't answer for a second, deep in thought. "He wanted us to know that the children are less likely to find us, they would have gone straight to Volterra" he sighed slowly.

"So how long until they realize we're not there?" again Carlisle stayed silent. When it was obvious that he wouldn't answer I tried to work it out for myself. "So, once they realize we've been taken by the Volturi, which probably would be straight away. Then they go to Volterra, find out we're not there and then try and work out where we are" I sighed "anywhere between 2 days and about 5 days"

We sat there in silence for about 5 minutes, before Carlisle finally spoke "No" I waited for him to say more but he didn't 'Yes?" I questioned. "I've told the kids about the base in Portland" there was hope in his voice. "Once they go to Volterra and discover we are not there" he went on "they will realize that they have actually taken us here"

I smiled hopefully to myself, I hoped they won't have chance to hurt us. Maybe the kids will get there in time to save us. Lots of questioned were running through my head as I felt the Van start to move again.

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Well there ya go. Hopefully that was okay for you. Sorry about not replying to any reviews or anything, but I'm a bit busy so I don't have much time. But the main thing is that I felt bad for not updating for ages so I quickly put this together, so I'm sorry if it's rubbish. Luckly exams are over so I should  have more time now. Anyway please review, and hopefully the update will be quicker than last time. Thank you to everyone that reviewed last time, sorry I haven't replied to them!


	7. Chapter 7

I apologize for the outrageous update time; I don't really have an excuse apart from exams. But yeah, sorryyy, please forgive me. But whatever you may think, I WILL NOT GIVE UP ON THIS! I am determined to finish this story! And your reviews will help me get there! As usual I have to thank those that reviewed, especially the people that review every chapter; I always look forward to your reviews. This chapter is mostly written at a stupid time of the night, so I apologize for any mistakes.

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After sometime, the gentle vibrating of the van and the comfort of her husband sat next to her; Esme let herself forget where she was and why she was here and rested her head on Carlisle's shoulder.

However, it was only a while later that she also felt Carlisle relax beside her. She felt very sorry for him; he had told her that he never wanted to have anything to do with the Volturi again. She had listened with fear when he told her all the stories of when he was with the Volturi. She knew that he was scared to be back with the Volturi, and as a prisoner. She also knew that he was being strong and not showing his fear for her, but she could read Carlisle like a book; she could tell by the look in his eyes when he speaks of Aro that he's scared. She knew that when he answered Aro back with confidence and hatred in his voice, beneath his mask he was shaking in fear.

A sudden jolt in the road brought her back from her thoughts and Carlisle sat up sharply, bringing her up with him. Esme looked into his face; this was the first time he had showed fear in front of her. She put her arm around his shoulder. "Honey, it's going to be fine." She felt his head nod and he pulled her back down to lay next to him.

Not 10 minutes later the van jerked and stopped and Carlisle sat back up. Esme sat back up with him. But this time there was no fear in his face, nothing at all. He was ready for Aro, and that comforted her.

The doors opened and Jane and Aro jumped into the back. "You ready, Carlisle?" he smirked. "Can't wait, lets get going" Carlisle replied standing up and holding his hand out for Esme. Aro came forward and grabbed Carlisle's shirt, pulling him out of the van. Jane grabbed Esme's arm and pulled her after them.

They went through two massive doors, closely followed by Alec but the female driving the car was not following. They went into a bigger room; there were a few chairs at the other end of the room. The room wasn't very big, but it was obviously the main room for the leaders. There were already a few of the Volturi sat at in the chairs and they stood up as Carlisle and Esme were lead into the room.

Caius was there, he had no psychic gift but Carlisle knew he was part of the Volturi because of his passion to hate and Carlisle could see the hatred in his eyes as he stared at him intently.

Marcus was there as well. This meant that they were planning on coming here all along; the three leaders of the Volturi were here. Marcus did have a special ability; he would be able to identify the relationship between Carlisle and Esme.

There was a new vampire there; Carlisle had never seen her before. She looked in her 20's but of course there was no knowing how long she had been a vampire. She was quite tall, with middle length blond hair. But there was something about her that made Carlisle think that she is not someone to be messed around with. "Ah, I see you have seen the newest addition to our guard" Aro said, gesturing to the girl "this is Potentia." Then he pulled Carlisle closer to him and whispered "I'd stay on the good side of her, she has a very very unique ability" he laughed lowly.

Carlisle looked up at the new vampire, wondering what her power could be. Possibly it was another Jane, just what he wanted; more pain. There was the sound of footsteps and Aro let go of Carlisle's shirt and turned to look at the new comer. "Ah, Felix! I was just getting worried that you weren't going to turn up" Felix smiled and looked towards the two Cullen's.

"So" Aro went on, "I'm sure you are looking forward to seeing what Potentia's gift it." Carlisle tried to smile back, "Not really, to be honest." Esme bit her lip, Carlisle knew how to annoy Aro.

"Well you're going to see anyway" he smirked back. "Felix" he nodded towards the vampire, "when you're ready Potentia" Esme wriggled out of Jane's grip and watched her husband intently, wondering what was going to happen. Potentia stared at him, and Carlisle realized that he felt different. He couldn't work out what the gift was doing, it made him feel weird; but there was no pain like he'd expected. Felix stepped forward, brought his arm back, and slammed his fist into Carlisle's stomach.

Carlisle dropped to the floor. Felix stepped back and Potentia tore her eyes off Carlisle and smiled. Esme ran and fell to the floor next to her husband. "Honey, what happened? Are you okay?"

Carlisle looked up, gasping slightly. What the hell had just happened? He had been hit lots of times before, but it had never hurt like that. What had her power done to him? Ignoring the pain radiating from his stomach he forced himself to stand up, wincing at the pain that it caused. All he wanted to do was to curl up into a ball. But he murmured "fine" towards Esme and stood up as straight as his protesting stomach would let him.

"Well there you go, that is her gift" Aro smiled at them, "I'll leave you to work out what just happened." Jane took hold of Esme's arm again, and Felix took Carlisle's. Felix yanked on Carlisle's arm pulling him forward, Carlisle bit back a cry of pain; trying to hide his discomfort.

They led the two Cullen's through a maze of corridors and stairs until they reached a room with two cells in it. They didn't look very comfortable. There were puddles of water on the floor from the dripping ceiling, one small bench and nothing else.

Esme locked eyes with Carlisle, begging him to not say anything to provoke Felix or Jane. Jane unlocked the door to one of the cells and Felix pushed Carlisle in harshly. Carlisle, shocked by the sudden movement, stumbled and fell. Catching himself just before his head hit the floor; he turned back over and saw them push Esme in after him.

Esme turned to watch Jane lock the cell and walk off, Felix close behind her. She then turned to Carlisle. "Oh, now they've got your t-shirt all wet!" she exclaimed angrily, glancing down at him. Carlisle looked down at himself and saw that he had indeed fallen into the biggest puddle of water in the cell. Sighing, he picked himself up and sat on the small bench.

Esme came and knelt in front of him, the bench too small for both of them. "What happened back there, Carlisle?" She saw her husband frown and unconsciously rub his stomach, wincing slightly. "I'm not sure" he whispered, then slightly louder "Potentia's gift made me feel weird and then Felix hit me, and it hurt" his voice lowered to a whisper again.

Esme sighed, moving slightly closer to him. She seized the bottom of his wet t-shirt, and slowly lifted it. She thought she heard him growl quietly with uncertainty, but she pretended she hadn't heard it. "Carlisle" she said sympathetically. He pushed her hands off him and shoved his t-shirt back down. She had seen a dark purple bruise spreading out from where Felix had hit him, but it wasn't physically possible. "Carlisle, how?" she inquired. He refused to look at her.

Then he said faintly "That's what her ability is." She waited for him to continue, "Her ability is to take away what makes someone a vampire." Esme though about it before saying "So you mean it makes you as weak as a human?" Carlisle nodded "I think so; it's hard to work out. I don't even understand what happened to me."

"But…Carlisle? If it makes you like a human, then would they be able to break bones?" she asked uneasily. Carlisle shrugged so she carried on "But if they could, would the bones heal again? I couldn't imagine having to live the rest of my vampire life with the pain of broken bones; I wouldn't be able to do anything." And before she knew it she was crying.

Carlisle came off the bench and sat next to her, letting her dry sob into his already wet t-shirt. "Honey, I will not let them do anything to you!" He said bravely, "I hope the kids get here soon though." Esme nodded, and smiled at her husband. She had fallen in love with the perfect vampire.

* * *

They had been running for quite a while, not really knowing where they were going. They all knew the general direction of Portland, but no one except Carlisle had ever been there before. They stopped in a clearing, the forest silent around them. Even the birds seemed to stop singing to let them think.

"We've been running for about 30 minutes" Edward started, "and from our house, I think it's about 15 minutes away." Alice frowned, "so does that mean we've gone straight past it?"

Emmett listened around them, and the other two fell silent. "We are near a town, I hear people and cars. Maybe we could take a cab?"

They all agreed. They knew it would be slower, but at least then they knew they were going in the right direction. So they followed the noise of the people and cars, Edward asking a local where they could get a cab from; before making their way there straight away.

Luckily there were three waiting for passengers, so they took the one at the front of the queue. Edward sat in the front and asked him how close they were to Portland. Neither Emmett nor Alice caught what the driver said or how much money Edward handed over to the cabby. All they knew was a little too enthusiastic when driving them off and that told Emmett and Alice that it was quite a lot of money.

They tried to relax as much as they could as the driver overtook a slow car. But none of them could properly relax; they kept getting haunted by what could be happening to Carlisle and Esme.

* * *

Well there ya go, another chapter done. And nope, I haven't started the next one yet. I only finished this chapter last night, or it probably was the early hours of this morning actually! As there is half term coming up, I am really hoping that I will be able to get the next chapter posted up sometime during then. *fingers crossed*


	8. Chapter 8

Now, I have no excuse at all to explain what I left it so long. I have had exams, but that's no excuse. I just kept opening this document and writing a line and then deleting it because it was rubbish. And then I've left it so long that every time I tried to do it, I had to re-read what I had done previously and by the time I did that, I wasn't in the mood for writing anymore. But you guys are the best, I know you must hate me soooo much by now, but please stick with it. I promise I will not give up on it, I will finish it, I just don't know how long it will take me. So I am sooo sorry. I've turned into the kind of author that I hate, taking bloody ages to update!

* * *

Esme came out of her trance, looking around the small cell. She didn't like the vampire equivalent of rest at all. Even the smallest move brought you out of it. It was actually more to waste time than to actually rest the mind. She wondered what had brought her out of it. But there was nothing that could have; no movement or sound from Carlisle.

She tried to stay as still as she could; Carlisle was still in his resting trance. Hoping to keep him in it for a while longer, she took this opportunity to think over what was happening. She couldn't believe how quickly this had escalated, one minute they were driving home with Carlisle, and now… well, they were trapped in a cell with no idea whether they were going to survive this or not. How much she'd miss everyone, of course they could all look out for themselves. But once the Volturi had finished with them both, they would probably go after her family. She shook her head, there's no point thinking like that. We will get out of it; the children will come and help us and if not we'd have to think of something.

The shake of her head had made Carlisle stir and sit up. Esme looked into his eyes, but saw no pain evident in them. "How are you feeling?" she whispered. He focused on her face and smiled his gorgeous smile. He brought his hand up to her face and stroked it lovingly. "I'm feeling very privileged that the person I get locked in a cell with, is the beautiful lady sat next to me" and he winked at Esme, trying to lighten up the situation a bit. She smacked him lightly, grinning at the same time.

"Ooooh, isn't that sweet?" a mocking voice called from the dark, and Aro stepped into view. Carlisle was on his feet in an instant, pushing Esme behind him. "What did you want?" Carlisle hissed at him. Esme watched from behind Carlisle as Aro unlocked the cell door and gestured for them to follow. But Carlisle stood his ground, "Where?" he asked. Aro turned around and walked towards him and pulled his hand out of Esme's grasp, holding it in his hands.

"Oh my dear Carlisle, we're having a meeting to decide what to do next. And we thought you'd like to join us." He smiled sweetly, and gently pulled Carlisle's arm to get him to follow. So all three of them walked down the winding corridors, turning right and left and only Aro and Carlisle seemed to know which way they were going, Esme got lost after only a few turns.

They went into a larger room than before; it had a table in the middle with vampires sat around it. Esme thought it looked rather like a conference room. They were told to sit between two very muscular looking guards they turned to watch Aro as he took his place. Carlisle glanced around the table, obviously looking for vampires that he knew, before settling on the table in front of him.

A feeling of fear enveloped her when she saw who was there, but she didn't let any of it show on her face. The new vampire was there, Potentia, is it? Esme thought. There weren't many there in total, just Aro, Potentia and the two they were sat next to. Potentia kept stealing glances at Carlisle, but he didn't look back. His eyes were firmly focused on the table. He didn't even look up when Aro cleared his throat and the rest of the table looked towards him.

"My dear Carlisle, you do not wish to look up?" Aro spoke with confidence but Carlisle still refused to meet his eyes. "Are you not interested as to what we decide you fate to be?" Still Carlisle did not speak or even acknowledge that Aro had spoken. Aro was starting to get a little annoyed now, so Esme tried to nudge him without anyone noticing. As soon as he felt her hand close around his knee, his head shot up and he looked at her. His eyes betrayed what he was thinking of, luckily as his wife, only Esme could read those eyes. Esme nodded her head towards Aro and Carlisle whipped around to look at Aro, seemly to realize where he was at last. "Sorry Aro, I just did not seem to think your words worthy of my attention" Esme bit her lip, Carlisle could be so stupid sometimes. The big vampire sat next to Carlisle launched up and his hand enclosed around Carlisle's neck lifting him out of his seat. A small grunt escaped Carlisle's mouth at the sudden attack, but he stayed calm, his eyes fixed on Aro.

Aro quickly waved his arm and Carlisle dropped back into his seat, his facial expression not changing. "Well unfortunately I am in charge here, Carlisle" he spat the name, "so you have to listen to me."

* * *

The cab ride was far to slow for any of the cullen's liking, Alice had taken to staring out of the window. And Emmett had his eyes closed, deep in thought. None of them knew what was happening, and they only hoped they wouldn't arrive too late.

Although they still didn't see how they were all going to get out of this situation, when they got there they would probably have to get Carlisle and Esme out of one of the cells. So yes, they would have them back, but the Volturi would soon find out that they were missing. And then first they would go to their home, and kill the whole family.

But of course, they couldn't worry about that now; their main goal was to get Carlisle and Esme safe. And then they could sort out the massive flaw to their plan. In fact, even thought quite a lot of time had gone past, the cab was pulling up into Portland after what felt like about an hour. But that didn't stop them from jumping out of the cab as quickly as possible and once Edward worked out which way to go, they set off in that direction. Hoping that this actually was where they were keeping their parents.

* * *

Back in the 'conference room', Carlisle was actually listening to Aro now, although his mind still seemed to wander from the room. Esme had been watching him glance around the room, and she was trying to work out what he was thinking. The other vampires were discussing whether they were worth being kept in the cell, or if they should kill them straight away. Carlisle and Esme weren't actually required to participate in this conversation anyway, so Esme was working out what Carlisle was thinking.

This was the kind of time she wished she had Edward's mind reading, however with Carlisle she could make a very educated guess. She had had so many years to get to know him and understand his every thought just from his movements, facial expressions and his eyes.

Because of her close relationship with him, she could tell by his constant glances towards each vampire and then to the door he was planning some sort of escape. He had a small frown on his face which also told her that whatever he was planning, it was more likely to fail than succeed. And he also kept sizing up the people to his right and my left which made her think he was planning some sort of fight. Piecing all that together, Esme came to the conclusion that he wanted to fight against the vampires and make a run for it.

It was a very long shot, and a frown unconsciously flitted across Esme's face as well because they had not much chance at all of actually escaping. Luckily Carlisle looked at Esme right when the small frown graced her face and he realized she knew his plan already. He silently thanked their close bond and Esme's surprising knowledge of him in order to piece all that together and come to the right conclusion.

So they both looked at each other, and decided through no words at all, that they were going to make a desperate bid for freedom in exactly two minutes. So they both counted in their head and looked forward again, hoping that their eye contact had gone unnoticed by the other vampires around the table. The time slowly ticked by as Esme prepared herself mentally and Carlisle did some last minute checks around the room for their escape route. And finally they both got to the last ten seconds at the same time, this was it.

* * *

Again, it was rubbish and short, but I could not think of anything to write. However I did leave it on a cliff hanger, which probably wasn't such a good idea. But I've wanted to get this out to you for aages now, so I've decided to finish this chapter here and get it out so you don't think that I've completely abandoned this story. To _Ironfist12 _and _Hardly, _I can not say how sorry I am. I hope this chapter makes it up to you; I will try not to leave you hanging for so long this time. Don't give up on me though, I will finish it. Guys, please review if you are still with me, I don't want to have to give up on this because I've lost my readers because of my loooongg update times :/


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